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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Slice of Life - Reflections

Since I started writing this summer, I have found that I do more reflecting than I have ever done before. I have always thought about how lessons and days went and how I could I change things, but now it is different. Maybe it's because I am taking the time to actually write things down instead of just "thinking" about things.

Last week was just an all-round great week, so I decided to write a little bit about what happened in Room 19B.

1. We received our standardized test results for last year, and 100% of the students I had all year passed! I was thrilled to say the least. They worked really hard to become better readers in an environment which was heavily focused on assessing. Not something I like, but today's reality.

2. We started our Independent Work Time and I started small groups and conferences. This went exceptionally well. I have modeled, and we have practiced and practiced, but it is so satisfying to see it all come together. We even had an unexpected visitor and our room was buzzing with reading work. I was very proud of my kids.

3. We were reading The War with Grandpa, and the kids were begging me to read more. I love it when that happens! This an older book, but the kids love the story. I always read it when we first start story elements because it has such great events in the rising action and climax. If you haven't read this book, you might want to see if you can find a copy.

4. I placed an order for the following books: Counting by 7's, Paperboy, Every Day After, and The Center of Everything. I can't wait to get started on these new books. I am starting a Mock Newbery Club for my high ability 4th graders, and these are some of the ones I have been hearing about. If any of you have read these, I would be happy to hear what you have to say about these titles.

5. My students posted their first post on Kidblog. I had shown them my blog when school first started and they were all excited to become "published writers." I even had a couple of students go online at home and create a post and comment on students' writing. I think this will be fun!

6. The last thing and probably the best thing that happened last week was that we found out they have decided to make our part-time teacher full-time. Today I will go from 36 students in the afternoon to 23 all day. We all know the importance of building relationships with our students. It was simply impossible to that effectively with 36 students. Today will be like another first day of school and I can't wait to meet my class....AGAIN!